Advantages

Disadvantages

Good for a tenner, but wouldn't pay full price to go.

I recently attended the twi light spa at Thorseby Hall with 9 friends. The price was fantastic as we had managed to get a deal on lastminute.com where it only cost us £10 each.

Thorseby Hall is a beautiful building and set in outstanding grounds, the staff were helpful on arrival giving my friends and I a tour of the spa and talking us through what each room was, I was a little surprised at how small the spa was in comparison to other Spa's that I have visited in the past.

My sister and I are both pregnant so were unable to make full use of all the rooms however were able to use the swimming pool, again this was not a massive sized pool and also was quite busy.

I queried whether there was a relaxtion lounge or cafe / bar area that we would be able to get a drink and was informed that you would have to leave the spa and go up the stairs to the main bar of the hotel, the staff member also explained that you technically shouldnt go up in your swimwear however as she was shift leading she would make an exception.

After 30 minutes or so my sister and I decided to get dressed and wait in the bar area for our friends as we did not feel comfortable walking through the premises in our swimwear, although the session was from 6 - 9 all my friends were out by 7.30 as they felt they had got round the rooms quite quickly.

I am pleased we had got the £10 gift vouchers, as I did not feel the experience would be worth the price that warner charge through their website.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Fantastic hotel and spa, a well deserved pampering treat!

I visited Thoresby hall for a three day pamper break for my Mum's 50th Birthday, and we had a fantastic time! The hotel is a beautiful stately home with original features mixed with some more modern areas and furnishings. The rooms are large, clean and comfortable, with fantastic views of the well kept, gorgeous green grounds. There are even Peacocks wandering around the grounds!

The spa is a more modern area of the hotel and includes a fully equipped gym, a swimming pool and jaccuzi area. A glass terrace which is lovely to sit in and read when the sun is shining, and a spa area with sauna, steam room, aromatherapy room, ice cave, whirlpool etc. Dressing gowns are provided, as are towels and spa slippers. I tried the exfoliating sea scrub treatment, which I unfortunately found was not good for my sensitive skin, however I had a wonderful full body aromatherapy massage and a gorgeous pedicure!

The food in this hotel is fantastic, most breaks include breakfast and three course evening meals. For breakfast there is the usual selection of continental and cooked breakfast foods. In the evening there is a Bistro style restaurant created in the basement area of the hotel serving set three course meals (with a wonderful selection) or there is a large canteen style (not in the school canteen sense) restaurant, where you can see the starters, mains and deserts on offer and choose what you want. There is also a stir fry bar, where you can fill a bowl with your chosen vegetables, choose your meal and stir fry oil and sauce and the chef will prepare it in front of you! All the food I had whilst there tasted wonderful!

The service from the staff was excellent. There is plenty of parking (you'll need to walk into the car park if you want any phone reception). There are activities put on throughout the day which are worth a try. We enjoyed the Yoga class!

Across the yard there is a small craft centre, including a jewelery making shop where you can take classes. Worth a look!

My Mum throughly enjoyed her Birthday break!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Did what I expected (get me away to relax) so all in all i was very happy!

I was taken to Thoresby Hall as a surprise gift for passing some intense exams - as a result, I cannot comment on the price of the three day break (although I understand that it was through lastminute.com and incredibly competitive) but I can review the experience in itself.

We drove up past Nottingham, and as soon as you enter the grounds it is breaktakingly beautiful... you can see extensive grounds and trees, plus an archery area... Which of course we saw and thought - can't wait to try that out (didn't happen!) but you gauge a feel for the tranquility of the place.

Mobile phone reception is awful - but that is true of most Spa's I have visited - I actually like that as it means that you can get away and relax.

Parking is available near the main house - and assistance is available from the staff - who were incredibly attentive from the start of the holiday to the end.

We went in to check in - from the magnificence of the exterior I must admit I did expect the interior to be just as grand - I was a little disappointed I must admit, because there wasnt the grandness - but having said that - checking in is a tiny part of a break away so I didn;t dwell on this too much!! We checked in without any problems and then were escorted to our room.

We had been upgraded (I believe) and had a patio area with seating outside - and during the day (when we were in the room) I loved seeing the peacocks and rabbits running around outside in the gardens. It was so peaceful - even though we were informed that the hotel was full to capacity, it felt at times as though we were the only ones there! whenever we called room service they would do all they could to accommodate us and relatively quickly.

After checking in and unpacking, we needed to rush to the Spa as we had had treatments booked in every day. Upon booking the hotel, you are able to use the Spa facilities, which was a short walk away from our room (on the other side of the house), but this was good as it allowed us opportunity to explore other areas of the House... As far as we understood, the House had been renovated so that it could become a hotel, but the Spa had been built as an extension - which had had to be done due to disabled access and health and safety regulations.

The Spa/Gym is quite busy because they run a monthly and annual membership too for people living in the local vicinity. you go along and are given a locker which you either give your membership details or hotel room number for, and then are supplied with a bathrobe and towels but a bag/pack to use whilst enjoying the facilities. We were also given a guided tour which every new member/resident enjoy so that they are comfortable and aware of the facilities available.

One observation is that while the general atmosphere is that of relaxation, the changing rooms are quite small in comparison to the rest of this area so people are often bumping into one another to get in/out...

with the actual facitilities - these are pretty good... my favourite had to be the jacuzzi which had jets and different strengths of water pressure which work different areas of your body - having recently suffered a whiplash injury this was amazing as the water jetted out and onto my shoulder and was just perfect!!

there is also a foot spa which you fill up (there can be a queue for this at times - but two people can use it at once) and relax with your feet... and also an aromatherapy steam room and ice room opposite one another) - these are TINY though - as in three people and each room is full, having said that the steam room is incredibly hot and steamy (even by steam-room standards) and the ice room is absolutely freezing - so i imagine you wouldnt want to take in either for any length of time - although when I went i did see a woman using the steam room as a make-shift shower, washing her hair and then rinsing it out with a hose which is in there - and this subsequently steamed the whole room up even more... I didnt stick around after that!

there are showers everywhere and then a relaxation area where there are water/massage beds and you can order refreshments. Fruit is readily available and guests are encouraged to pick it up and eat it!

there are lots of hostesses around who you can ask for assistance and they really do take the time out to go above and beyond in customer service.

finally, in this section there is also a garden and a sauna (which was new wen we went so wasnt always on) and then a mud bath room. this was one of the treatments we were booked into. Basically, you have the room locked and booked for yourselves - and it has its own washing/shower and loo facilities... there are different types of mud (you can tell by the colour, i.e. white, brown, yellowish and greeny brown) and these are of a different 'roughness' so exfoliate different areas of the body.... you then rub this mud all over your body and then relax for an hour.... after which you can have a shower and wash whatever hasnt been steamed off, off...

To be honest, after this treatment i was exhausted, probably because of the steam and the relaxing ambience of the place, but there is plenty of time to take it easy, and the rooms are very close by...

Other options include a bath butler (who comes and runs a bath for you) - this had been booked, but we had to cancel as we ran out of time, so cannot comment on this, but there are lots of other things - ie. archery, hunting, shooting, etc..... depending on what it is you would like to do. Excursions and activities can be booked at the front desk/via telephone easily enough.

For dinner, there are a choice of 4 options - room service, a 4* a la carte traditional restaurant, a more relaxed restaurant with self-service buffet with lots of options, or the pub/bar which has bar style food.

we ate in each restaurant (didnt bother with room service) and my favourite had to be the relaxed restaurant because you didnt have to pre-book a table, and didnt have to dress up especially (i was there to relax so this suited me better on a personal level) and there were so many options to choose from, from steak, chinese, pastas, wow - there was just so much food!!! you can choose the meats you would like and the chefs make your food for you while you wait. there is also a desert bar with so many little deserts - and it is all you can eat... so works well...

this is also the restaurant used for breakfast so it helped to know the layout as it runs through three rooms and a conservatory area.

very briefly i will run through the other treatments we had, which included a pedicure, manicure, massages and waxing.

The pedicure and manicure were undertaken with other people (who i didnt know) sat next to me in the chairs - which i found a little strange because it was more like being in a high street salon, than a private spa... but they did a very good job, so all in all i was happy...

waxing and massages were undertaken in private rooms and these were fab - i almost fell asleep!!! so just as i would have expected!

All in all a relaxing time, with attentive staff and i would go back if only it were not so far away!!